Seek Community: Resources for Anti-Racist Action

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” ~Desmond Tutu

 

The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others, are part of a horrific legacy of systemic racism and violence against Black lives in this country. Bottom line is that Black Lives Matter. In the fight for justice and equality, we must do better; to be silent is to be complicit, especially for those of us who are not people of color. Educating ourselves and becoming action-oriented allies is essential. Below are some resources for how to begin to take action, including books to read, podcasts to listen to, and movies to watch to be better informed. If you have additional recommendations we would love to hear them, and you can leave them in the comments section.

 

Action:

-If you’re able to show up to protest, remember to do so safely (see tips from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here) and do not post or publish the faces of protestors to protect their identity.

-Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley introduced a resolution to condemn police brutality. Call your congressperson to urge them to sign this. Find your member of Congress and contact him or her.  202-225-3121 (U.S. House of Representatives) and  202-224-3121 (U.S. Senate)

-Vote!!!

 

Donate:

NAACP

National Bail Out Org

Bail Project

National Bail Out Fund

Antiracist Research & Policy Center

Black Women’s Blueprint

Color of Change

Black Visions Collective

Reclaim the Block

I run With Maud

Justice For Breonna Taylor Petition And Fundraiser

Official George Floyd Memorial Fund

Colorlines

The Conscious Kid

Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)

Families Belong Together

The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights

MPower Change

National Domestic Workers Alliance

RAICES

Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

SisterSong

United We Dream

Audre Lorde Project

Know Your Rights Camp

Fair Fight

Southern Poverty Law Center

ACLU

Black Lives Matter

Critical Resistance

  

Podcasts:

1619 by the New York Times

About Race

Code Switch by NPR

The Diversity Gap

Intersectionality Matters! Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

Pod For The Cause from the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights

Pod Save the People by Crooked Media

 

Videos:

Public Address on Revolution: Revolution Now, Rachel Cargle

Black Feminism & The Movement for Black Lives, Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, and Charlene Carruthers

How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion, Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlane Schools

 

Books:

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallis

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Anthony Greenwald and Mahzarin Banaji

Me And White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F Saad

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Black in America by Moustafa Bayoumi

The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward

I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown

When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors

An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz

Citizen by Claudia Rankine

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Mindful of Race by Ruth King

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson

This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on how to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell

Stamped; Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? By Beverly Daniel Tatum

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? By Mumia Abu-Jamal

Stamped From The Beginning, The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

A Peoples’ History of the United States: 1462 to Present by Howard Zinn

Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Y. Davis

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

 

Articles:

“America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer, Atlantic, May 8 2020

“My Life as an Undodumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, NYT Mag, June 22 2011

“The Intersectionality of Wars” by Jane Coaston, Vox, May 28, 2019

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh

"Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups" by Craig Elliot PhD 

"Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?" by Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic, May 12 2020

“What Does Justice Look Like Without Prisons?” by Oonagh Ryder

"Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination" by Patricia Hill Collins

 

Films:

13th, Ava DuVernay

American Son, Kenny Leon

Dear White People, Justin Simen

See You Yesterday, Stefon Bristol

When They See Us, Ava DuVernay

If Beale Street Could Talk, George Tillman Jr.

Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975

Clemency, Chinonye Chukwu

Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler

I Am Not Your Negro, James Baldwin Documentary

Just Mercy, Destin Daniel Cretton

Selma, Ava Duvernay

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

1 comment

Thanks 🙏

Cruz June 11, 2020

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